In honor of celebrating women and the next generation of female leaders, Mattel announced Barbie is partnering with entrepreneurs and role models during this International Women’s Day.
Barbie is honoring Shonda Rhimes, founder of production company Shondaland, and other global female role models to inspire girls to be anything they want to be by shining a light on women leaders in tech, wellness, film, STEM, and education.
The Barbie campaign elevates women while pipelining increased access to female role models, supporting female entrepreneurs, and introducing global program partnerships.
The global lineup of role models also includes Ari Horie, founder and CEO of Women’s Startup Lab, and Women’s Startup Lab Impact Foundation; Pat McGrath, founder of Pat McGrath Labs; and Melissa Sariffode, CEO and co-founder of Canada Learning Code and Ladies Learning Code.
Other global leaders include Adriana Azuara, Founder of All4Spas; Doani Emanuela Bertain, Teacher and founder of Sala 8; Jane Martino, chair and co-founder of Smiling Minds; Lan Yu, fashion designer; Butet Manurung, founder and director of SOKOL; Soniaa Peronaci, founder of Italian food website, ‘GialloZafferano;’ Tijen Onaran, CEO and founder of Global Digital Women and co-founder of ACI Diversity Consulting; and Lena Mahfouf, digital creator, videographer and author of Always More.
With Inspiring Girls International, Barbie will work with schools worldwide, including Spain, Italy, France, the UK, Poland, Brazil, and Australia. The US will introduce Dream Gap workshops featuring Q&As with trailblazing Barbie Role Models, reaching an estimated 3,500 girls in the next year.
An extension of the global campaign, a curated shop from female-founded brands has put together a first-ever shopping platform, @BarbieStyle. The collection on BarbieStyle.com features a range of limited edition products from fashion, beauty, and accessories from partners Dudley Stephens, Palmer Puff Sleeve Turtleneck, NETTE, Dream Land Candle, Autumn Adeigbo, Zebra Padded Headband, Larroude, Barbie Dolly Mule, and Erin Clutch, Tenoverten, Barbie Trio, Robertson, Rodeo and Malibu, Live Tinted, Huestick in Origin.
“It’s a dream come true to be collaborating with Barbie. Our mission as a brand at Live Tinted is to dismantle colorism in the beauty industry and to emphasize that representation matters. To be able to show young tinted girls everywhere that there is a place for them in this world through such an iconic and prominent figure such as Barbie is something I know younger Deepica would be extremely proud of.” -Deepica Mutyala said, Founder and CEO.
In continuation of supporting the growth of women, Mattel Mattel will donate 5% of proceeds from the sale and match the donation to the Barbie Dream Gap Project.
As women continue to become world leaders and the face of entrepreneurship, women are still underrepresented in leadership roles. According to Dr. Andrea Vial, young girls are at the age of five begin to develop a lack of self-confidence and question their abilities.
Mattel and Dr. Vial performed a Cognitive Developmental research test, ‘Dream Gap,’ concluding that girls aged 5-10 are less likely to step into leadership roles and raise their hands to lead class projects.
However, in the final stage of the study, the results proved that young girls and boys are more inclined to volunteer to lead a group activity when having a female role model.
Established in 2018, the Barbie Dream Gap Project brand has committed over one million dollars through the Barbie Dream Gap Project to nonprofit partners on a mission to help young girls achieve their wildest dreams.
“We know that children are inspired by what they see around them, which is why it’s so important for young girls to see themselves reflected in role models who’ve daringly pushed past roadblocks and overcome the Dream Gap to become the brave women they are today,” Lisa McKnight said, Senior Vice President and Global Head of Barbie andMattel. “This International Women’s Day, we’re proud to honor 12 global trailblazing women to help empower the next generation of female leaders by sharing their stories,” she added.
Mattel and Barbie also celebrate the brand through an NFT art collection with Boss Beauties, a female-led global initiative. Barbie’s NFT features a diverse assortment of Barbie careers designed to empower women and girls in technology and the arts.
Boss Beauties will auction the Barbie NFT in Mar. 11-12 via OpenSea.
